


No Time to Cry

by TomteNisse



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Corneo's a creep, Gen, Light Angst, Missing Scene, Some Swearing, but it's only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:27:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25622122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TomteNisse/pseuds/TomteNisse
Summary: Deleted scene: Tifa returns after the sector 5 bombing to lick her wounds and mourn Cloud, but with Corneo's men snooping around and Barret injured, she will have to put that aside and step up to keep her friends safe.
Relationships: AVALANCHE & Tifa Lockhart, Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5
Collections: FF7 Fanworks Exchange '20





	No Time to Cry

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Licoriceallsorts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Licoriceallsorts/gifts).



> I hope you enjoy it, I feel like I went for a pretty cliche route with it, but it made sense to me, in terms of why Tifa went with Sam alone. 
> 
> Also I hate titles.

She felt numb. There was pain crawling up the back of her head, and the bruises blossoming across her body. Wedge’s hands trembled as he lightly dabbed her knuckles with rubbing alcohol. He was trying not to cry. But Tifa, she just felt numb, as if she was floating above the entire situation. It didn’t feel real to her. They had to take the long way back to Seventh Heaven, and she spent the entire time trying to figure out where it went wrong. As much as she replayed the events in her head, she couldn’t pinpoint an exact moment. No. It was when she guilt tripped poor Cloud.

She was always surrounded by people, and poor Cloud was always alone. He was always a little awkward, and often alone, making her his only friend in the village. Looking back on it, he followed her up Mount Nibel and even after her father raged and threatened him, followed her. He still followed her. Had she been taking advantage of him? Was that why he stayed with Avalanche for that second mission? She winced as Wedge dabbed a particularly deep cut across her palm.  _ Cloud was gone _ . He wasn’t even supposed to be on that mission, and now he is gone. She knew it but it didn’t register.

The doors to seventh heaven slammed open and Wedge and Tifa jumped and whirled around. It was Jessie, panting heavily as she looked around the room. She paused and opened her mouth, but from the corner of Tifa’s eye, she could see Wedge shake his head. Jesse’s face fell and she took a seat near Biggs. They whispered to each other quietly, but some of the words floated over to her anyways. 

“Stranger…. Spying… questions… Gun… arm?... Barrett” 

“...Slums...safe? ...Elmyra… hideout” 

“Shinra… reactor... Corneo”

“...Wall Market?...”

“...Avalanche… Wutai”

“bullshit!”

The more they spoke, the lower their voices were. She heard less and less, but their faces darkened and she could see the growing concern on Biggs’ face. Suddenly he stood up and banged his fists on the tables. He turned and stalked out, hands twitching at his sides. The doors slammed behind him and Jessie flinched, shoulders hunched over. Then she turned to look at Tifa, meeting her eyes. There was fear, so much fear and she searched Tifa’s eyes for something. 

Tifa turned away first. Something was brewing on the horizon and Jessie was afraid. So was Tifa. Barrett had carried her out of reactors and down the plate. But now he was exhausted, sound asleep in the hideout. They needed someone to figure out what to do next. Wedge’s trembling was turning into quiet sobs next to Tifa. He always was the heart of Avalanche. Something about watching him cry snapped Tifa out of it. They had to do something.

She bit her thumb. What now? Barrett needed to rest, and Wedge was in no condition to do anything. Jessie was still emotional over the first reactor, and as anxious as she was about getting every detail right, Tifa wasn’t sure when the last time she slept was. Biggs. Well, wherever he was, he wasn’t here now and they needed to start planning. She needed to take the lead. Standing abruptly, she moved to Jessie.

“What happened?” she said curtly, and Jessie looked up.

“Umm… are you ok?” Jessie said, avoiding her eyes.

“I will be, but for now we need to plan our next move.” Jessie looked to protest but Tifa sent her a warning look. She straightened her back and took a breath in before beginning in an almost mechanical voice,   
“There was a man asking questions, looking for a “large black man with a gun attached to his hand.” for the last few days. He vanished before we could find him. Just last night, the watch found someone in the alley, spying on us. I was able to trace both of them back to Corneo.” No matter what happened, Jessie was always very diligent in her reports. 

“What do they want?” The gears in Tifa’s minds were whirring. 

“Most of Avalanche thinks that he’s Shinra’s informant in the slums, and that they’re trying to root out Avalanche without sending in their own soldiers. Something about tying up loose ends, but I don’t know what that could mean.”

“So, they’re looking for us. Are we safe?”

“As far as I can tell, the only one of us that they’ve been able to ID is Barrett, other than that, they don’t seem to know who the other members are. And someone in the area must have let slip Seventh Heaven’s name,” Jessie responded, anger seeping into her voice. Tifa could understand her sentiment.

“Good.” So long as they keep Barrett hidden for a while, they might be able to regroup before the next wave. But when would the next wave be? And why were they trying to be subtle about it, using Corneo’s men instead of their own. With ShinRa’s resources, it’s only a matter of time before they find everyone. They could expect the average slum resident to hold out against ShinRa’s promises for so long. Even some of their most loyal supporters might accidentally let something slip. 

“...Tifa…” Jessie was looking at her, worried, “Your lip… it’s bleeding.”

With that, Tifa was brought back to the dimly lit bar, and the rough wooden tables. She must have bitten through her lip as she was thinking, without realizing it. 

“What we need to do now is buy some time for Barret to recover, and try to figure out why Corneo’s sending men over to sector seven. Where’s Biggs?” Her voice cracked at first, but by the end it sounded authoritative enough that Jessie gave her a nod, before turning to find him.

“I’ll go track him down.”

“Great, bring him back here, we have some planning to do.”

Tifa watched the doors swing behind Jessie for a few seconds, still unsure of her new-found position. Sure, when she was younger, she often led her friends in games, but this was the first time she realized that she really was responsible for other people, and their safety. She’d already failed one of her friends, she couldn’t fail the others. But at the same time, there was a gnawing pain in her stomach, and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up straight. She swallowed thickly

“I need a drink.” she thought to herself. Then she looked up and saw wedge, still trembling from the corner of her eye. She maneuvered, still sore, around the bar, and reached under it to grab a pair of glasses. The smell of alcohol burned in her nose, but at least it got rid of the scent of burning machinery. Bartender wasn’t exactly her first choice when she was younger, but there weren’t many other options for her in the slums, and it was a good way to overhear a little intel every once and a while. She was, if not a great drink mixer, a good listener. She turned to Wedge, determined to cheer him up, but when she leaned over to hand him a glass it slipped out of her hand and shattered on the floor. They both jumped, and Wedge bolted upright with a garbled apology. Before she could even respond, he was crouched over the mess, picking up the larger pieces of glass. She sighed and grabbed the broom and dustbin, before squatting down next to him.

“I’m so sorry! I should have been paying more attention, It’s just been so…” He begins before trailing off.

“No, No, it’s my fault, I dropped it.”

There was a pregnant pause as they swept up the glass and mopped down the spilt liquor. 

“I’m not really in the mood to drink right now anyways.” Wedge finally says. “It’s late, and I think I should go home.” Tifa’s stomach lurched. She really didn’t want to be alone, but who was she to say no to him? She couldn’t even meet his eyes because she knew if she saw him crying, she wouldn’t be able to stop the tears either. There was no time to cry when they were all in danger. 

* * *

It was the slamming of doors that woke her up. She hadn’t even realized she had fallen asleep on one of the barstools. Groggy, she looked up to see Biggs and Jessie entering, both with grim expressions. She yawned and got up to make some coffee. Whatever was happening, they were in for a long night. 

“So. what exactly do we know about Corneo?” she began, trying to sound somewhat confident and upbeat. She could see the worry in Bigg’s eyes, and the wrinkles forming on his forehead.

“Well, he’s sort of the De Facto ruler of sector five, and has close ties to ShinRa, He runs the colosseum and plays a pretty big role in supporting places like the Honeybee Inn.” Jessie Began. “I looked into trying to find some acting, or at least performing in sector five for a while, but it didn’t pan out. There were too many sleazy guys for my taste, and rumor has it that Don Corneo is the worst of them all.” She shudders involuntarily at some memory.

Biggs cuts in. “He mostly hires run of the mill grunts and muscle heads for his security, but what they lack in skill, they make up for in numbers. Plus it’s rumored that he has some pretty vicious monsters in his colosseum. He himself doesn’t seem to fight at all. Instead he runs away and hides behind someone else.”

“Ok, so he’s well connected and has a lot of guards. What else do we know about him? Anything that we can use to get close to him, or how to break into his house?” Tifa presses.

“Mansion, or palace really, and I don’t have much information on that, beyond the fact it’s insanely lavish and full of treasure he buys with his ShinRa blood money. There appears to be sewers running below all of sector five, but I don’t have a clear map of them, Rumor has it that some of Corneo’s pets escaped, and now no one’s brave enough to go down there and map it out.” Biggs supplies.

“Ok, anything else we can think of?” Tifa continues, and for the rest of the night they argue fruitless plans and nitpick details. Biggs shoots down pretty much every plan she can come up with, and eventually Tifa snaps and storms off to make herself a cup of coffee. It’s not until she’s pouring herself her sixth cup of coffee that she realizes the sun is beginning to rise. She stares at it a moment and realizes that she is exhausted. Her exhaustion is like a blanket covering every part of her aching body, and she can feel her annoyance leaving her.

“Sorry, I’m just exhausted. Let’s take a break, rest and come back to it later.” she says wearily, and the other two look relieved. 

“I’ll go find Wedge and have him watch over Barret.” Biggs says, and then Jessie decides to bring Marlene to Marle. The three of them walk out into the blinding sunlight and the other two wave, as Tifa stays behind to lock up. Her fingers feel sluggish and it’s hard to coordinate but eventually she manages to lock the front doors and drag herself down the road to her apartment. She can see people whispering but she can’t bring herself to listen in closer. She heads to bed immediately and falls asleep before her head hits the pillow. 

* * *

She woke up to a desperate need to pee, and a dry mouth. Not quite a hangover, but with as many bruises as she had, a hangover couldn’t make her feel any worse. she dragged herself through the process of feeling human again, showering and rewrapping all of her injuries, before leaving the apartment to head back to the bar. Someone had to relieve Wedge of Barret watching duty. As she dragged herself through the streets she saw the neighborhood watch congregating in a circle, surprisingly quiet. No-one was yelling out the monster tallies. Strange. 

“Who does he think he is?” one of the members exclaims

“Those assholes think that just because they got a little gil they can waltz right in here and do whatever they want.” Another one sneered.

“Yeah, If Corneo wants to meet my daughter he’ll have to do it over my dead body!” a third pronounces. 

“Exactly, I don’t care how much money that guy has, he’s bad news, all of his ex wives have gone missing!” The first says.

“Ech! I’m so glad I decided to dress down today then!” One of the female members says. 

Corneo? Tifa had to know more, what had he done to upset all the watch members? So she drew closer and greeted them, and they were more than happy to rant and rave, filling her in on the details of how Sam had come and started offering some of the local girls the chance to audition for Corneo’s bride. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he was chased off by an angry partner or family member, or in one case the rather short tempered lady herself. They all agreed that the man was a slimeball, and that the chosen brides were to be pitied. No matter how much wealth and power was promised, they never seemed happy, and never lasted long either. 

“What do you expect? I hear one of the girls passed out when she actually met him face to face!” one of the girls jeered. 

“Of course she did! All those silly cartoons and whatever he has don’t hide how gross he is!”

“I’d rather live in a shack the rest of my life than wake up to someone like him in the morning!” another girl declared.

“Wait, wait! These girls actually meet him?” Tifa asked incredulously. 

“Yeah? That’s sort of how a marriage works… hard to have a wedding night without meeting your husband.” one of the girls says, a hint of mockery creeping into her voice. But the gears in Tifa’s head were already turning, so she too turned away and walked as if on autopilot to the bar, pouring herself a drink and thinking of what to do next. She knew it was risky, and no guarantees, but all of last night they couldn’t come up with a single plan that would actually work at getting them close to Corneo, and now one just falls into her lap.Was it a trap? Even if it was, was it worth springing? Her mind was whirring with all the possibilities. 

It wasn’t long before Wedge appeared from the secret hideout, and nodded at her, before saying something about his cats and running off. She shook her head and descended with a tray of food for Barret. 

He looked like hell. Sure, she looked bad, but his skin was ashy and he was covered in bandages. But he immediately perked up at the sight of food.

“Damn, I had no Idea how hungry I was until you showed up!” he said, and tried to sit up, but winced from the pain. She set the tray down and hurried over to his side, gently supporting him.

“How is it that you’re the one beating monsters up with your fists and I’m the one that looks like shit?” he tries to joke, but she’s in no mood to reciprocate.

“I take it Cloud’s not back then…” Barret said, dropping the jovial tone. “Those damn ShinRa agents! When I get my hands on Heidigger I’m going to rip him limb from limb!” to emphasize that he bangs his fist against the wall to his side, and then hisses in pain. He’s still so weak, and She has no idea how long it will be until he fully recovers, which means that they’re at risk. While Biggs might be able to handle himself in a fair fight, and the other two could handle themselves if they had time to prepare, she had a feeling ShinRa wasn’t about to give them either of those things. 

“Barret, has Wedge told you anything about what’s been going on?” she begins tentatively, and his eyes darken. 

“Yeah, that Don Corneo asshole’s been snooping around here, looking for something.”

She nods, and then begins. “We need to figure out why he’s out here and not ShinRa, and maybe even buy some time and slow them down so you can recover. But the only way we can do that is to get to Corneo himself. He’s not exactly the most trusting man, and seems pretty tight lipped…” she trails off, and Barret nods, thinking. 

“But there is a way I can get in. He’s looking for a bride, and apparently, they get to meet him in person. I do that, and get him alone and I know I can get him to spill his guts!” she finishes, trying to sound more confident than she is. 

“Are you insane? How can you suggest something like that? Going into a heavily guarded palace with no backup?” Barret rages, but she cuts him off.

“Well it’s not like you or the guys can do it, and Jessie’s seen enough of sector five. Besides, I can handle myself!” she responds, matching his tone.

“Not against someone like that! He never plays fair! You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“I have to do something! I’m always letting other people fight my battles for me! I just lost Cloud. I lost him because I keep guilting him into helping me out with shit he doesn’t even care about, and it’s selfish of me to be risking his neck if I’m not going to risk my own!”  
“What? You were out there, same as any of us, so what is this about being selfish?” Barret retorts, and he braces himself with his hand to try and stand, but it gives way beneath him. 

“Barret, this is our only chance, and if I don’t risk it we will all be in danger. I have to do this!” she said, pleading with him, but she can see in his eyes that his resolve is firm. “I’m sorry Barret, but I have to do this.” and with that she backs away, towards the exit. 

“Tifa! Tifa get back here! Damnit!” but it isn’t long before she’s back in seventh heaven, and the soundproofing on the hideout eliminates any trace of his objections. She has a few hours before Jessie comes to relieve her of her shift, she has to make it count.

* * *

The Haori still fits her like a glove, despite spending years in a trunk. While she couldn’t bear to part with it when she moved to Midgar, she also couldn’t risk dirtying it by wearing it around the slums. So in a box high above everything else in her room it remained, along with the few pieces of jewelry that she owned, and the small collection of makeup. She was never one to really wear either of those things before. Jewelry was too dangerous for a fight, and makeup would be sweated off almost immediately in the hot weather. Both would draw too much unwanted attention. But now that’s exactly what she needed. So she steeled herself and carefully began applying the make-up, to the best of her rusty abilities, and then her outfit and the jewelry. Then she grabbed her coat and tried to cover up as much of it as she could. 

When she reached the street, there was stillness in the evening air, that made her decision seem all the more heavy. There was no turning back, and if she messed up, she would have to handle it all alone. It weighed on her. There weren't the usual voices and liveliness of the neighborhood to distract her from the knots in her stomach. But no matter how nervous she was, she couldn’t turn away now. So she followed the winding narrow streets of her home to the train station, and then to the Inn across from it. Sam, as he was called, wasn’t that hard to find. Most of the people at the inn’s bar were ones that, if she didn’t know by name, at least knew by face, and they all seemed tense. In the middle of it all, seemingly oblivious was a man she didn’t recognize. He hardly looked like an evil henchman, but then again, Corneo apparently had his hand in a lot of legitimate business operations, and she supposed this could be one. So she steeled herself and sat down across from him, taking off her jacket. 

She could feel all eyes on her, watching with bated breath. No turning back now. 

“You’re Sam, right? Corneo’s man?” she began, and he growled.

“I’m not his man, we work together, partners.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just heard that you were the one to speak to about auditioning to be one of his brides. Is that true?” and she tried to add a little more sugar to her voice, raise it a little. Flirting hadn’t been her forte, she was too busy to practice it, but this was how she had seen other women do it. She couldn’t be that far off-base right?

He grunted and looked her up and down.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’ve got to ask though, why are you interested? It’s not like I’ve gotten a warm welcome from anyone else round here.” he says, eyes narrowed in suspicion. No wonder he was so short with her.

“Aha” she tried laughing but his eyes remained narrowed. “Well, for the same reason as anyone I suppose: A chance to meet him and experience the finer things in life.”

“Bullshit. You’re not the type to take the easy way out. those callouses don’t lie.” He took a swig of his drink before setting it down. “Last chance.”

“Fine. I have some questions, ones that only he can answer.”

“Oh? And you think he will just give them up?”

“Don’t worry about me, I’m not the type to take the easy way out, remember?” she quipped, and his lips quirked up for a second, before he leans back in his chair and swirls his drink, humming for a second before turning to her.

“I like you, and Don Corneo definitely would too. So if you really have to meet him, I’ll take you.” he says, and it shocks her. He just accepted that? Does he secretly hate this Corneo guy?

“You’ve got questions, I get that, but for now, we’ll have to leave if we want to make it on time. You ready to go?” he jerks his head towards the door, and she clenches her fists tight before taking a deep breath. It’s her turn to help save everyone else.

“Yes.”


End file.
